Target to close two South Side stores in February

Shopping carts are lined up at the Super Target store in Broadview, July 20, 2018. Target is closing stores in the Morgan Park and Chatham neighborhoods on the city's South Side.

Shopping carts are lined up at the Super Target store in Broadview, July 20, 2018. Target is closing stores in the Morgan Park and Chatham neighborhoods on the city's South Side. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Target plans to close two of its five stores on Chicago’s South Side in February.

The decision to close the stores in the Morgan Park and Chatham neighborhoods “follows a rigorous annual process to evaluate the performance of every store in the portfolio and maintain the overall health of the business,” the Minneapolis-based retailer said in a statement. Four other stores are closing nationwide.

About 115 people work full or part time at the 128,000-square-foot Morgan Park store, which opened in 2008. Roughly 120 work at the 126,000-square-foot Chatham store, which opened in 2002.

Employees in good standing at both stores will be given the option to transfer to a different store in their area, Target said.

The retailer has been expanding in the Chicago area over the past few years and has plans for two new North Side stores, in the Rogers Park and Logan Square neighborhoods, by the end of 2020. The chain also is investing in existing stores. Target said it plans to revamp 18 Chicago-area stores this year, on its way to more than 1,000 remodels by 2020.

But most of the recently opened stores are Target’s new smaller format, designed for urban areas, dense suburban neighborhoods and college campuses.

Except for a roughly 20,000-square-foot store that opened in Hyde Park in 2016, most new stores in the area have been downtown, on the North Side or in the northern suburbs.

One, in Lakeview, is within a mile of two other Target locations. The Target stores closest to the closing Chatham and Morgan Park stores are a 5- or 6-mile drive away, respectively.

Once those locations close, Target’s remaining South Side stores will be in McKinley Park, Archer Heights and Hyde Park.

Target said it does consider the proximity of other stores when making decisions about closing locations. But it also looks at the store’s profitability over several years and other options available to customers, such as shopping online and having orders delivered, Target spokeswoman Jacque DeBuse said.

“This is based on the business and is not about a neighborhood or geography,” DeBuse said. “As you have seen, Target remains committed to Chicago, as we’ve been remodeling stores across the metro (area) and continuing to open new stores to serve new guests.”